Montana INBRE established a multidisciplinary, statewide network with the goal of positioning Montana as a national leader in research on the pathogenesis of infectious diseases and on the increasing health issues related to the environment, while developing a Montana workforce to meet the biomedical research and economic development challenges of the future. Over the past four years, MT INBRE successfully created new biomedical research cultures at four of the state's baccalaureate institutions, established unique research and educational programs, built strong relationships with all seven of Montana's tribal colleges, and supported a student pipeline that will sustain biomedical research in Montana in the future. MT INBRE II builds on these successes with the goal of maintaining and further developing the Montana network and student pipeline, and taking advantage of this network to address the unique problems Montana faces in infectious disease, environmental health and, importantly, health disparities. INBRE II will support and mentor investigators from the baccalaureate and research universities to address these problems, and will build expertise and capabilities at the tribal colleges by supporting community-based participatory research (CBPR) projects designed to address health disparities on Montana Indian reservations. INBRE II has the long-term goal of utilizing its network to strengthen ties between tribal colleges and tribes and to make tribal colleges a conduit for tribal health research on the reservations. INBRE II will continue to build a statewide network of extremely diverse investigators, including individuals from research-intensive universities, teaching colleges, tribal colleges, and reservation-based community members to more effectively address the health problems of Montana. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE (provided by applicant): MT INBRE II will advance knowledge and address health issues of unique importance to Montana and to the nation. MT INBRE II supports student education to increase scientific and technical knowledge in the state's workforce, and develops community-based health research on Montana's Indian reservations to ultimately improve health in Native American communities.